Really Random Tuesday #33: The Lake Winner, Carlo's Bake Shop, and the Case of the Missing Followers

Should I change the name of this blog from Suko's Notebook to The Really Random Tuesday Blog? Because I've posted little else lately! Soon, though, I'll return to more serious bookish things (such as reviews), so please bear with me. In the meantime, here are my random bits.

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The randomly chosen winner of The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto is Hira, from Chronicles of an Enamored Soul. Many congratulations, Hira! I'll be sending you a hardcover copy of the book very soon, compliments of Melville Publishing of Brooklyn, NY. (I was prepared to send this book out of the country if necessary, but my daughter drew a name close to home.)

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While in NYC recently on vacation, visiting with family, we also ventured to Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken, NJ. Although I only recently discovered the TV show that made this Italian and American bakery famous (during Memorial Day weekend 2011), I was charmed by Cake Boss, and promised my daughters that we'd try to visit the shop on our trip back east. In order to visit this world-famous bakery, we woke up very early and took the PATH train from NY to Hoboken (a quick, pleasant ride), and arrived at the shop at about 7 AM, when the bakery opens for business. We waited outside the bakery on line (my two daughters are pictured at the end of the line) and were handed a number, and before we knew it, we were inside, and treated to appearances by both Grace and Frankie. I even high-fived Frankie after he waved to the crowd in the shop (pictured), because he was right in front of me and posed to do so. Of course, we bought a few treats (including my morning coffee, pictured) and T-shirts, and then sat outside the store enjoying them before walking around Hoboken, a picturesque city with a waterfront view of NY. This excursion to Carlo's Bake Shop was great fun.

Click on photos to enlarge them.

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Oh where, oh where have my Followers gone? Or where, oh where can they be? Their tiny square photos have been missing on my blog, although they're visible when I view my blog on my iPhone, adding to the mystery of this case. I think this may be a Blogger problem--is it affecting other fellow bloggers? (Other images, on older posts, are missing as well, and this is rather annoying, as I spend a lot of time working on posts.) Please, Blogger, get this resolved--I hate these occasional glitches--and I hope to be able to see my Fantastic Followers (and other images) again soon.

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Appearing on random Tuesdays, Really Random Tuesday is a way to post odds and ends--announcements, musings, quotes, photos--any blogging and book-related things you can think of. If you're inspired by this idea, feel free to copy the button and use it on your own blog. Please leave a link in the comments if you’re participating and I'll add it to this post. For other recent Really Random Tuesday posts, please visit Naida's blog, the bookworm, Avis' blog, she reads and reads, and Leslie's blog, Under My Apple Tree.

Really Random Tuesday #32: Breaktime

When I crave a break on hot days, I brew some iced coffee. Last summer I rediscovered coffee, mostly in the form of iced coffee, after a long break from it. If you like the flavor of coffee, iced coffee is a delicious summer treat. I add unsweetened soymilk or coconut milk and lots of ice to strong coffee for an energizing drink.

About a year ago, we bought a Keurig machine (which has an iced coffee setting) and I really love it (although I recently acquired a small French press which I also enjoy using). Sara from One Cup Connection contacted me recently about some great deals on K-Cups, brewers, and accessories, because she had read a past post in which I mentioned my wonderful Keurig machine. They even have a deal on my favorite K-Cups, Newman's Own Special Blend, a bold, organic coffee.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Did you know?

• Hawaii is the only U.S. state that grows coffee.
• Coffee is the second most traded commodity on earth.

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I won't be posting (or visiting other blogs) again until next month. I'm taking a short blogging break to spend time with family, but I'll be back to announce the winner of The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto in early August, and will post a new review and giveaway for The Gap Year by Sarah Bird, so please stay tuned.

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Appearing on random Tuesdays, Really Random Tuesday is a way to post odds and ends--announcements, musings, quotes, photos--any blogging and book-related things you can think of. If you're inspired by this idea, feel free to copy the button and use it on your own blog. Please leave a link in the comments if you’re participating and I'll add it to this post.

For another Really Random Tuesday post, please visit Veens' blog, Giving Reading a Chance, and Vivienne's blog, Serendipity Reviews. Veens is the talented designer of my new, snazzy button, which I adore.

Thanks for reading!

The Lake: Review and Giveaway

Having recently lost my mother, this book struck a chord in my heart immediately. As I began reading I had an uncanny sense that this was exactly the book I was supposed to be reading, to help me with my own grieving, and to help me sort out my feelings about my mother's death--and her life. My blog is dedicated to the memory of my mother (I may add a formal dedication at a later date); I've connected my mother to my blog since its inception (she was a great supporter and even left a few comments, incognito), and she was, up until her illness, cancer, overwhelmed her entire being, always positive and encouraging about this endeavor.

"Now that I was back in the real world, the dream didn't seem so sad. The sense of my mom, of her presence, kept radiating warmly through my chest, though I still didn't feel any affection for the town where I'd grown up."
~The Lake, Banana Yoshimoto

The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto was originally published in Japanese in 2005, and was translated into English by Michael Emmerich in 2011. The book is the story of a young woman, Chihiro, who moves to Tokyo after the death of her mother. She is deeply saddened by the loss, but also feels at the age of twenty-nine a sense of freedom in a new city where she's unknown and works as a muralist. At the beginning of the book, Chihiro, the protagonist, states that she has just had a dream in which her deceased mother spoke to her, enveloped in a beautiful haze. (I dreamed my own mother was in a small, white car the other night, and I hope to see her in another dream soon.) After the mention of the dream the narrator reminisces about her mother's hospital stay and romance with her father, and other events central to her mother's life. This novel made me miss my own mother, but also brought to mind her lasting presence and influence in my heart and mind.

Windows are important in this book--perhaps they represent the barrier or pathway between inner and outer life, or something of that nature--and Chihiro gazes out her window at a young man she has grown to like, who is also gazing back at her just as often. From their respective windows, they very slowly begin a sweet romance. Chihiro finds Nakajima quite beautiful (in an offbeat way). His mother is also deceased, and Chihiro knows he misses her love.

"And I could see that no one else in the world would ever be able to love him the way his mother must have loved him."
~The Lake, Banana Yoshimoto

Gradually, Chihiro and Nakajima fall in love and begin to spend more and more time together. When Nakajima wants to take Chihiro to the lake to meet two of his friends, Mino and Chii, who live in a tiny, tidy house, Chihiro senses that this is a very emotional event for Nakajima, which may help her to understand him better. At the shimmering lake, Chihiro is captivated by Nakajima's unusual friends; she understands how special they are, and greatly appreciates the wonderful tea Mino brews for her, a simple yet great pleasure.

Unpretentiously written in plain language, this reflective book is about our relationships with the important people in our lives--parents, significant others, friends, ourselves. The author's characters are quirky and reflective and likable. Banana Yoshimoto once again demonstrates a beautiful simplicity of expression, even of the most profound subjects: death, love, and friendship.

Good news! Melville House Publishing generously gave me an extra copy of The Lake to offer as a giveaway. Because I have readers around the world, this giveaway is international.

• To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment.
• For another chance at winning, become a follower of this blog, or let me know that you're already a follower, or that you subscribe in Google Reader.
• For an additional chance, post about this contest on your blog, Facebook, or Twitter.
• For an extra chance, name a simple pleasure you enjoy.

Enter by 5PM PDT on Monday, August 1. One winner will be randomly selected and announced on Tuesday, August 2.


This is my first review for the Japanese Literature Challenge 5, created and hosted by Dolce Bellezza. Special thanks to Nathan from Melville House Publishing for sending me these books.

Really Random Tuesday #29: Book Winner and The Lake

Please congratulate Zibilee from Raging Bibliomania, the winner of Thoughts Without Cigarettes by novelist Oscar Hijuelos. I think you'll enjoy reading this thoughtful book, Zibilee. Congratulations!

Thanks to everyone who entered this giveaway. I have many other current book giveaways listed on the right side of my blog, so be sure to take a look and enter the ones that interest you.

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Other bookish "news": I won four (!) books from a thousand Books with Quotes. Thank you, BookQuoter! I'm currently reading The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto for Dolce Bellezza's Japanese Literature Challenge 5 (behold the gorgeous button, below). But why should you care what I'm reading? After all, I'm just a two-bit book blogger. Well, hopefully my review of The Lake will give you an idea of what the book's about and whether this book interests you. And Melville House Publishing generously gave me an extra copy of the book to give away, so please stay tuned for my review and giveaway.

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Appearing on random Tuesdays, Really Random Tuesday is a way to post odds and ends--announcements, musings, quotes, photos--any blogging and book-related things you can think of. I often use this meme to announce book winners. If you're inspired by this idea, feel free to copy the button and use it on your own blog. Please leave a link in the comments if you’re participating and I'll add it to this post. For other Really Random Tuesday posts, visit Vivienne's blog, Serendipity Reviews, and Leslie's blog, Under My Apple Tree. Thanks for reading! Your comments are appreciated.

The Lake: Thinking Ahead to the Japanese Literature Challenge

Hosted by Dolce Bellezza, the Japanese Literature Challenge is one of the first reading challenges I ever did, as well as one of my favorites. Goodbye Tsugumi and Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto were my first tastes of Japanese literature. I'm looking forward to participating in the challenge again this year, and I plan on reviewing another book by this talented author, The Lake, which has been recently translated into English by Michael Emmerich. Published in Japan in 2005, The Lake has received many terrific reviews on Amazon and elsewhere, and I think it would make a perfect choice for Bellezza's Japanese Literature Challenge 5.


The 9.0 Tōhoku earthquake that struck Japan on March 11, 2011 triggered one of the worst natural disasters of our time. Melville House will donate a portion of the proceeds from The Lake to Japan disaster relief, in a program called Banana for Japan.

Lizard

Having read Goodbye Tsugumi and Kitchen, two novels by Banana Yoshimoto, I was determined to read another book by this author. Lizard is a collection of short fiction by Banana Yoshimoto, translated from the Japanese by Ann Sherif. Published in 1993, Lizard took the author about two years to write. She dedicates it to the memory of the late Kurt Cobain from Nirvana. I picked up this book a few months ago but didn't read much beyond the first short story. LuAnn's Spring into Short Stories reading challenge gave me the incentive to finally sit down and finish it.





Very briefly, this is what each story is about:

1. Newlywed is about a newly wed man who is riding on a subway train late at night after drinking a large quantity of whiskey at a bar.
2. Lizard is about a young couple who reveal secrets from the past that influence the present.
3. Helix is also about a young couple who go to a café after hours to talk.
4. Dreaming of Kimchee is about marriage and connection.
5. Blood and Water is about a young woman who leaves her home in the country to live in Tokyo.
6. A Strange Tale from Down by the River is the story of how the past--and the river--affect the lives of a couple planning to get married.

Set in Japan, these stories embrace many themes, such as healing, religion, spirituality, love, sex, and the passage of time. In some stories, the author narrates from a male point of view, and in others from a female point of view; these first person protagonists are young and modern, introspective, and engaging. On the verge of adulthood, they leave home for the first time, and discover freedom and responsibility. They struggle to find meaning in life and are tinged by ambivalence and sadness, although relief comes through moments of connection with others, noticing a vivid blue sky, or savoring a delectable treat.

"When I looked out from that window each morning at the river, I saw the water glistening, like a million sheets of crushed gold leaf, flowing by. The light within me was something gorgeous like that. I wondered if that was what people in the old days used to call hope."
~A Strange Tale from Down by the River, Banana Yoshimoto

I still call it hope. This collection left me feeling calm and somewhat renewed. I enjoy Banana Yoshimoto's sharp, sparing prose, the offbeat events and surprises in her fiction, and her clear depiction of the joy of simple pleasures and little things--which really aren't so little.

Thank you, LuAnn, for hosting this reading challenge.

Spring into Short Stories

"No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow."
~Proverb

"A little Madness in the spring
Is wholesome even for the King."
~Emily Dickinson

"Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party!'"
~Robin Williams

Happy spring! What will you do to celebrate? It's not too late to sign up for LuAnn's Spring into Short Stories reading challenge. Basically, you are required to read and review a short story, of fifty pages or less. Of course, you can read many more short stories if you choose to, or read and review a collection of short fiction. For this challenge I'll resume reading some anthologies I started a while back, Lizard by Banana Yoshimoto, In the Driver's Seat by Helen Simpson, and Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. This springtime challenge runs from March 20 until June 20. Please visit the Spring into Short Stories Reading Challenge blog for more details and to sign up.

Kitchen（キッチン）

Whether large or small, modern or old-fashioned, cluttered or organized, the kitchen represents the heart of the home for many of us. It's the place where we gather with others to eat, cook, and share parts of our day.

Kitchen is also a novel by Japanese author Banana Yoshimoto, a critically acclaimed example of contemporary Japanese literature, published in 1988, and translated into English in 1993 by Megan Backus. Kitchens in Japan are called Daidokoro (台所; lit. "kitchen", notice the little house symbol). Until the Meiji era, a kitchen was also called kamado (かまど; lit. "stove"), which was considered to be the symbol of a house; the term could even be used to mean "family" or "household", similar to the English word "hearth".

In this novel, a young Japanese woman, Mikage Sakurai, has just lost her grandmother, her last living relative, with whom she has lived for several years. Grief-stricken and on her own, Mikage is invited to the home of one of her grandmother's friends, a young man, Yuichi Tanabe, and ends up staying with him and his transsexual mother, Eriko. After Mikage's arrival at their apartment she inspects the kitchen and starts to feel at home. Mikage has always been enchanted by kitchens, which seem to nurture and comfort her. She quickly falls in love with the kitchen at the Tanabe's home.

"Lit by a small fluorescent lamp, all kinds of plates silently awaited their turns, glasses sparkled. It was clear that in spite of the disorder everything was of the finest quality, There were things with special uses, like . . . porcelain bowls, gratin dishes, gigantic platters, two beer steins. Somehow it was all very satisfying. I even opened the refrigerator (Yuichi said it was okay)--everything was neatly organized, nothing just 'left'.

I looked around, nodding and murmuring approvingly, 'Mmm, mmm.' It was a good kitchen. I fell in love with it at first sight."
~Kitchen, Banana Yoshimoto

Mikage feels lost and lonely after the death of her grandmother. However, with the help of Yuichi and his mother, and through her cooking and job as a culinary teacher's assistant, she begins the healing process. There's also a budding romance in this book, which is a lovely treat.

This novel centers around food and its preparation. I must admit that while reading this book, I started to crave Japanese food (I adore miso soup and bento boxes), especially the katsudon--even though I rarely eat pork--because it sounds so delicious in the book. Influenced by my reading but unable to head to my neighborhood Japanese restaurant, I went to the kitchen and made some ramen noodles with onion and scallion for lunch.

I've read some criticism of this short novel, and this book is certainly not for everyone. As for me, I'm interested in modern Japanese culture, food, and fiction, and was intrigued by this book. Yoshimoto uses words sparingly, yet deals with large themes such as death, isolation and loneliness, love, and food. She captures the essence of what she writes about with a clear and simple elegance. At first I was startled by the descriptions of Eriko's radiant physical beauty (she used to be a man, Yuichi's father), but soon I appreciated the unconventional aspect of this. These unlikely housemates form a new family, a new home, their own "kitchen". I really enjoyed this short book.

My edition of Kitchen also includes a novella, Moonlight Shadow, a much shorter story about love and loss and healing, with a touch of the supernatural, which is also quite engaging.

Special thanks to Dolce Bellezza's Japanese Literature Challenge 3 and Rebecca Reid's Spice of Life Reading Challenge, which motivate me to read books that I probably would neglect otherwise!

Goodbye Tsugumi

Confession time. I have an ugly secret. A few months ago, I read a post on a book blog and I made a stupid comment. I suggested that perhaps the most notable thing about Banana Yoshimoto was her name. Almost immediately, I regretted posting this comment, and because I couldn't delete it, soon posted another comment, saying that I'd been unfair, having never read her work. Time passed. I still felt bad about my foolish remark (and still do). I've since read some glowing reviews of Banana Yoshimoto's work. The moment I signed up for Bellezza's third Japanese Literature Challenge, I knew I had to read a novel by Banana Yoshimoto. This challenge compelled me to finally get one of her books and read it.























Goodbye Tsugumiwas published in 1998 in Japan, and translated into English by Michael Emmerich in 2002. Banana Yoshimoto is actually the pen name for Mahoko Yoshimoto, the author of several novels popular in Japan and many other countries.
This short novel tells the story of two cousins, Maria, 19 years old, and Tsugumi, 18 years old, who are very different from each other. Maria is kind and compassionate, whereas Tsugumi is often unpleasant to others, downright mean and nasty. She's described by Maria in the first few pages of the book:

"She was malicious, she was rude, she had a foul mouth, she was selfish, she was horribly spoiled, and to top it all off she was brilliantly sneaky. The obnoxious smirk that always appeared on her face after she'd said the one thing that everyone presently didn't want to hear--and said it at the most exquisitely wrong time, using the most unmistakably clear language and speaking in the ugliest, most disagreeable tone--made her seem exactly like the devil."
~Goodbye Tsugumi, Banana Yoshimoto

Tsugumi is, in a word, obnoxious. She's also been frail and sickly since birth, prone to fevers, and not expected to live a long life. The narrator of the story, Maria, has spent her childhood at the seaside Yamamoto Inn (which is owned by Tsugumi's family), with her mother and Tsugumi's family, and feels most at home here with them by the ocean. When Maria moves to Tokyo with her parents she longs for the ocean, and Tsugumi invites her to spend one last summer at the inn, which will be closed down in the spring. It is during this particular summer that Maria and Tsugumi grow closer. Maria not only puts up with her cousin's behavior, she actually loves her deeply. I, too, began to care about Tsugumi, in spite of her difficult personality. Although in poor health, Tsugumi shows considerable strength, as well as spirit and spunk, and is lively companion to her cousin.

The fleeting nature of time, specifically of the summer, is an important theme in the book, bringing to mind the season's ephemeral sandcastles, and Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine, which I've read, and Farewell Summer, which I'll read closer to the summer's end. Yoshimoto captures many sparkling moments, made even more poignant by the shadow of death which hovers near Tsugumi.

"I wanted to hold on to the particular feeling of languor that I got as I walked the streets of this town, the town of my past, which I would lose when summer ended."
~Goodbye Tsugumi, Banana Yoshimoto

I felt the same way about this book: I did not want it to end. Yoshimoto's writing is sharp, clear, concise, striking. I wanted to hold onto this book longer, to savor it; I'm sure I'll reread it. I'll definitely read more books by this author!

In 1990, Goodbye Tsugumi was made into a movie, directed by Jun Ichikawa. I'd like to see it if it's available here.

For another review of Goodbye Tsugumi, please visit The Reading Life.